Agriculture in a Changing World

"Agriculture is the oldest environmental problem," the Land Institute's Wes Jackson tells us early in this 27-minute video. Through interviews with 11 scientists, researchers and environmental experts, this short documentary considers that fate of agriculture and the environment in the age of agri-business and climate change. Noam Chomsky, Bill McKibben, Tad Patzek , Wendell Berry, Mark Shepard and the rest of the cast explain that big agriculture's insatiable need for revenue not only afflicts the environment with toxic fertilizers, pesticides and carbon emissions, it degrades the state of agriculture itself by destroying the soil and subverting the natural evolution of animals, plants and insects. It is as unsustainable as it is unstoppable.

The local food movement and the resurgence of small farms provide a glimmer of hope on a gloomy horizon. "Last year was the first time in 150 years there were more farms and not fewer," McKibben says. Chomsky puts the dilemma in perspective when he says, "On the one hand you have highly concentrated capital supported by state power. On the other hand you have people trying to do things on their own. That's not just agriculture that's over the whole society."

Resilience is a program of Post Carbon Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping the world transition away from fossil fuels and build sustainable, resilient communities. Content on this site is subject to our fair use notice.